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Artists Statement: The 81 Bees is a collective of fine art photographers, will be having a group exhibit at Keeble and Shuchat Photography.

There is powerful inherent beauty in botanicals, encompassing flowers, ferns, cacti, and leaves. Their colors, intricate geometry, shapes, and patterns are dramatic and produce a diverse range of images. The intricacy of botanicals is further revealed when viewed closely. This group of photographs celebrates a personal vision of the splendor and uniqueness of botanicals.

Artists Statement: Ben’s favorite form of photographic expression is “street photography” which Ben describes as “recording a moment that expresses the relationship of the subject to his or her surroundings.” The following comment made to him about a series of photographs taken in New York captures what Ben seeks to achieve with his street photos.

Broadly speaking, the images work superbly as a reflection on the human comedy of New York urban life. I obviously don’t mean comedy in the sense of the images being primarily funny—although there are clearly humorous elements in some of them. Instead, the photos work together as a kind of celebration of the heterogeneity of American urban life, opening a generous perspective on individual idiosyncrasy and the messy richness of life. The photos—and your eye—strike me (within these photos at least) as agreeably upbeat, savoring life rather than dwelling on life’s tragic dimensions. (I realize that a documentary photographer, for example, could certainly find photographic traces of deeply sad and indeed tragic stories in Manhattan. But that’s not at all what you’re up to within this group of images.)

Ben’s work also includes photos that do not fit in the genre of street photography. The presence of geometric lines, color or shadow may alone serve as the subject of a photograph, as can be seen in some the photographs in the exhibit, which were taken in the United States, Costa Rica, France, Spain, and most recently, Israel.

Ben began taking and processing photos as a teenager. His formal study of photography began while a student at Humboldt State University. He has also taken photography courses and workshops through the de Young Museum Art School, the Leica Akademie, Stanford Continuing Studies, the International Center of Photography, and StreetFoto San Francisco 2016.

His photographs have been published in the Palo Alto Times and the Palo Alto Daily Post.

Ben has a part-time law practice located in Palo Alto specializing in employment law.

Artists Statement:Transience explores our environment in all forms–natural, urban, rural; winters, summers; droughts, rainy seasons. They are fragments, remnants, and/or derivatives of invisible forces that shape and drive changes in our surroundings. They are catalysts to help us reflect on changes that occur in our own lives and examine our feelings, which we tend to forget in the fast pace of contemporary consumer culture.

Takako was born in Tokyo, and lives and works in Oakland. She completed her PhD in Computer Science from Cornell University, and MFA in Studio Art from San Francisco Art Institute.

Keeble & Shuchat’s Learning Center Gallery features a show of images by noted travel photographer Robert Holmes (Travel Photographer of the Year 2015, Wine Photographer of the Year 2016). Mr Holmes’ travels have taken him around the world, from his native Britain to destinations as varied as Calistoga and Kathmandu documenting history, culture, food and wine. The images on display depict destinations from disparate corners of the globe but all feature a consistent vision; a sense of light, color, and detail that conveys the emotional character of the lives and places depicted within the scenes.

Leica will host a reception for the photographer and Mr. Holmes with present an artist lecture on the evening of June 2nd. Mr Holmes, noted as a raconteur as well as a photographer, will speak about both his personal journey as an artist and the key elements that underpin a successful career as travel a photographer. Whether it entails getting that key opportunity (an expedition to Mt. Everest), being photographically prepared, or simply dealing with the rigors of life on the road, he will speak candidly about both prospering as travel photographer and making the award-winning images that lead to being featured in National Geographic Traveler and New York Times.

Mr. Holmes will be available after the talk to answer your questions and autograph your books.

Robert Holmes career as a successful and prolific travel photographer has extended over 35 years. He was the first photographer to be twice honored by the Society of American Travel Writers with their Travel Photographer of the Year Award and is the only photographer to be given the award 4 times, most recently for 2015. He received the international Wine Photographer of the Year award for 2016 out of a field of 7000 entries from 60 countries.

He has worked for National Geographic, Geo, Saveur, Wine Spectator, Life, Time and hundreds of other major magazines and international companies. His stock catalog of over half-a-million images is represented for licensing by Getty.

His assignments have taken him from coverage of the 1975 British Everest Expedition for the London Daily Mail and Paris Match, to searching for snow leopards in the remote valleys of western Nepal for National Geographic Magazine, trekking into the rain forests of Borneo with Penan tribesmen for Islands Magazine and crossing the Great Indian Desert on camel for Departures.

Bob has illustrated over 40 books and he has regularly been one of the elite group of the world’s 100 best photojournalists invited to participate in the acclaimed “Day in the Life” series.

His passion for food and wine has led to extensive work in those industries including the illustration of 9 books on wine and 6 cookbooks. More recently Bob has added film production to his talents and in partnership with Andrea Johnson has been producing videos for clients in the wine and hospitality industries.